What began as a modest community event organized by the Hampden Village Merchants Association and the Hampden Community Council has grown into a quirky, oversize barnburner — albeit a family-friendly, over-by-seven barnburner — a festival that has retained the homegrown Hampden sense of humor and aesthetic with which it was founded.
At this year’s Hampdenfest on Saturday, you can watch Baltimoreans race gravity-powered, commode-based vehicles in the Toilet Bowl Race, taste gourmet, homestyle, and outlandish macaroni and cheese recipes entered in the Great Baltimore Mac Off, and enjoy four stages of entertainment — three on the Avenue and one on Chestnut — showcasing punk rock, experimental music, hip hop, dj sets, and comedy.
Of this year’s music lineup, let me recommend BFB favorite Patrick McMinn‘s instrumental four-piece Impatience Machine at 11 a.m., the catchy post-punk of Monster Museum at 1:45, the deeply groovy riff rock of Slow Bull at 3:00, and the infectious hip hop of AK Slaughter at 4:40.
See the full schedule and lineup here.
